1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fill film sheet for a cooling tower, and more particularly, to a fill film sheet for a cooling tower which is constructed to increase a contact area between cooling air passing between fill film sheets and cooling water to be cooled, so that the water to be cooled can flow on the fill film sheet while being uniformly distributed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a refrigerator, air conditioner, industrial heat exchanger, etc, hot water having undergone heat exchange is cooled by exchanging heat with air in a cooling tower and then used again as cooling water. Cooling towers in which heat exchange between water to be cooled and air is effected primarily fall into two principal categories, that is, those involving countercurrent flow of air and water and those involving cross flow of air and water. In the cross flow type cooling towers, air flow is essentially perpendicular to a path of water travel. Cross flow type cooling towers such as shown in FIG. 1 offer advantages in many instances because of the ability to introduce cooling air across the entire vertical height of a tower casing 101 whereas counter flow type cooling towers require that cooling air be drawn in below a fill film sheet assembly. In the cross flow type cooling tower 100, if water to be cooled is injected through nozzles 102 from upper basins onto fill film sheets 103 arranged in the casing 101, while traveling on the fill film sheets 103, the water is brought into contact with air pulled into between the fill film sheets 103 by virtue of blast force of a blower fan 104, to be thereby cooled. The fill film sheets 103 are uprightly installed in the casing 101 so that the water to be cooled can flow downward thereon.
The fill film sheet 103 is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,548,766 and 4,801,410 issued to Kinny, Jr. et al. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the fill film sheet 103 has chevron-patterned lifts 105. The chevron-patterned lifts 105 are formed on both surfaces of the fill film sheet 103 so that a series of repeatedly zigzagged contours are defined. Ridges 105a on one surface of the fill film sheet 103 define valleys 105b on the other surface of the fill film sheet 103 and vice versa. As can be readily seen from FIG. 2, the fill film sheet 103 comprises a composite fill film sheet in which an air inlet louver 106 and an eliminator 107 are formed integrally with each other. The chevron-patterned lifts 105 provided to the fill film sheet 103 are formed to be continued in opposite directions in a manner such that each lift 105 has a pair of leg segments 108a and 108b which cooperate with each other to define the zigzagged contour. As can be readily seen from FIG. 3, the pair of leg segments 108a and 108b have the same length.
Such fill film sheets 103 can be installed in the casing 101 so that they are positioned at a predetermined separation one from another by spacers 109 having a W or V-shaped configuration. In the fill film sheet 103, since water to be cooled flows while being biased toward the eliminator 107 due to air resistance, the water to be cooled cannot flow to a lower part of the fill film sheet 103 adjacent to the air inlet louver 106. Consequently, loss is caused in an effective cooling area of the fill film sheet 103, as a result of which cooling efficiency of the entire cooling tower is deteriorated. To cope with this problem, the fill film sheet 103 is formed in the shape of a parallelogram in a manner such that the fill film sheet 103 is inclined toward the air inlet louver 106 by about 15°. That is to say, as best shown in FIG. 1, the fill film sheets 103 are installed in the cooling tower 100 to be inclined by about 15° toward the air inlet louver 106.
However, the conventional fill film sheet for a cooling tower, constructed as mentioned above, suffers from defects in that, since the fill film sheet is inclinedly installed in the cooling tower, a volume and a weight of the entire cooling tower cannot but be increased, and therefore, it is difficult to place the cooling tower on the roof of a high-storied building or in a narrow space.
Also, although a contact area between the fill film sheet 103 and the water to be cooled is increased due to the inclined installation of the fill film sheet, since the water to be cooled flows downward along an inclined path, a dwelling time of the water on the fill film sheet is increased. Thus, as circulation of the water is delayed, cooling efficiency of the entire cooling tower is deteriorated.
Further, due to the fact that the fill film sheet made of a plate-like material is formed with the chevron-patterned lifts 105, contact efficiency between the water to be cooled and the air is degraded, and heat exchange efficiency between the water to be cooled and the air is diminished.